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Thursday, 8 August, 2002, 12:23 GMT 13:23 UK
Work continues to restore rail links
Queen Street tunnel
Queen Street Station was partially closed
Hundreds of staff are working to repair flood damage which has caused problems across the Scottish rail network.

ScotRail has announced that services are now operating normally in and out of Glasgow's Queen Street Station.

It had experienced a partial closure while the damage caused to a tunnel during last week's storms was repaired.

However, travellers in the north of the country are still facing serious disruption after heavy rain led to landslides and flooding earlier this week.


We are putting in a tremendous effort to get the rail network back for both train operators and passengers

Janette Anderson
Railtrack
The Highland Line between Perth and Inverness was closed after a "substantial" landslide at Pitlochry.

Railtrack said that more than 2,500 tonnes of debris swept under the line, undermining about 120 metres of the route.

Trains are now running between Inverness and Pitlochry with buses ferrying passengers from there to Perth.

However, a spokesperson said: "There is currently no estimate as to when the line between Perth and Pitlochry will reopen."

A landslide at Marshall Meadows, on the East Coast Main Line at Berwick-Upon-Tweed, caused disruption for five hours on Wednesday night.

Repair damage

Services on the Glasgow Argyle line are still affected by severe damage to track circuits, signalling equipment and the track beds between Glasgow Central and Dalmarnock.

More than 200 engineers and maintenance staff worked through the night in an attempt to clear and repair the damage.

"We are putting in a tremendous effort to get the rail network back for both train operators and passengers," said Railtrack Scotland director Janette Anderson.

Flooded road
Flooding caused transport problems across Scotland
"Our engineering teams continue to work tirelessly and conscientiously to keep services running as best we can, despite the volume and complexity of repair work required."

Monsoon-like conditions caused the main commuter line between Glasgow and Edinburgh to close for a period last week as engineers worked to clear tracks.

There were two landslips on the approach to Queen Street Station, as well as track circuit problems affecting its tunnel and a tunnel at Haymarket Station in Edinburgh.

The high level station at Queen Street was closed on Sunday to allow access for engineers.

A spokesman for ScotRail said services were now operating normally out of the station.

'Reliable operation'

However, the Glasgow to Edinburgh service will continue to run every 30 minutes rather than every 15 minutes for the time being.

Extra services at peak times will be reinstated.

Remedial work still has to be carried out on track circuits at Haymarket over the weekend.

Ms Anderson added: "We hope that this final piece of the jigsaw will provide us with a robust and reliable operation to enable ScotRail to resume their 15 minute Edinburgh to Glasgow service on Monday."

However, she said passengers should check first before setting out on Monday.

See also:

01 Aug 02 | Scotland
30 Oct 01 | Scotland
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